Crude goods: The Producer Price Index for crude materials for further processing moved up 3.8 percent in November. For the 3 months ending in November, prices for crude materials advanced 4.0 percent following a 1.5-percent decline from May to August. In November, the monthly increase in the crude goods index is mostly attributable to prices for crude energy materials, which jumped 10.5 percent. Also contributing to the November climb was the index for crude foodstuffs and feedstuffs, which advanced 0.5 percent. By contrast, prices for crude nonfood materials less energy decreased 2.5 percent.Crude energy:

The index for crude energy materials rose 10.5 percent in November. From August to November, prices for crude energy materials jumped 16.4 percent subsequent to an 11.0-percent decline for the 3 months ending in August. The monthly increase in November was led by a 22.7-percent jump in the crude petroleum index. Higher prices for coal also were a factor in the rise in the crude energy index.

Expectations: Consensus is for 0.2% month-over-month increase in PPI and 0.2% increase in core PPI which excludes more volatile food and energy prices.

Analysis: PPI measures the average change in prices from the perspective of the seller. It is important because it is a major indicator of commodity prices in manufacturing sector and because these costs eventually trickle down to the consumer. PPI fell 0.3% in October, after a 0.8% surge in September.